Thyssenkrupp deputy chairman to vote against new CEO contract over 'fundamental mistrust'

Thyssenkrupp's deputy chairman will vote against the contract extension of CEO Miguel Lopez at a board meeting on Friday, saying he had not delivered a promised turnaround of the steel unit after selling a stake to billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

The comments by Juergen Kerner, one of Germany's most influential labour representatives, mark a major escalation in the conflict between management and workers over the German conglomerate's restructuring, most notably its iconic steel division, which the group has sought to divest for years.

Thyssenkrupp's supervisory board will convene on Friday to vote on a planned spin-off of its warship division TKMS as well as a new contract for Lopez, who took over two years ago, sources said last week.


Kerner warned of massive resistance if Lopez's contract extension went through against the will of worker representatives, which can only happen via a decisive vote by chairman and former Siemens manager Siegfried Russwurm.

Kerner, deputy chief of Germany's biggest union IG Metall, who also sits on the supervisory boards of Siemens, Siemens Energy and Traton, told Reuters that while he and Lopez had established a working relationship, "we now have a fundamental mistrust on both sides".

He said workers could use the means at their disposal, including strike action, going forward unless Thyssenkrupp was able to draw up a convincing future plan for the steel division and sufficient funding, which he described as red lines.